Clients are being sent to Loaves & Fishes centers in Mebane and Saxapahaw to pick up food.

Executive Director Brenda Allen said the Burlington location has spent the last three months informing its existing clients of the temporary hiatus, and also distributed lists of other local food pantries.

The distribution center has recently become storage space for the extra bins and foods previously housed in two rental units, the leases for which have now expired, Allen said.

“We had made an offer to purchase a property thinking that prior to January we would have a space that we would be able to move all the things that we have,” she said. “Consequently, they did not accept our offer, so that left us scurrying with what to do.”

Allen said the Loaves & Fishes location in Mebane, at 408 W. Center Street, doesn’t have enough space to hold the extra inventory, and the ministry didn’t want to inundate the new Saxapahaw location, at 5950 N.C. 87 S., Graham, before it opened Thursday.

Since the items from the storage units are now at the Burlington location, and the ministry won’t be acquiring additional storage units, Allen said the distribution center needs to be reorganized before it can effectively dispense food to clients.

“We have to have food on hand to be able to service over 7,000 people each month,” with 30 days’ worth of groceries, Allen said. And to do that, she said the space needs to be rearranged.

“Our office is still open, we still are taking the donations here,” Allen said. “We just aren’t able to service people out of our distribution center.”

Allen said the reorganization – and the transfer of clients – could take anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months.

The Loaves & Fishes location in Mebane is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and client applications for food will be taken at 9 a.m. The Saxapahaw office is open Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., where client applications are also taken at 9 a.m.